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Throwing Some New Light on Your Kitchen Design and Usage

Redecorating your kitchen can be fun, especially if the possibilities for design are only limited by your. imagination. However, if you are short on space then you might have to be a bit more creative. Throwing a bit of light on the subject could hold the key to making the most of your space.

Bring Your Kitchen to Life
The clever use of light in small rooms can bring to life areas which might have previously been dead spaces left unused. However, too much lighting can be overkill, not to mention costly to run: bright lights everywhere might give the room a far too clinical feel, while strong spotlights might make your guests feel like they’re about to undergo interrogation. While you will need practical, everyday lighting, you can maximise the function of your kitchen, moving it between being the place to create the family meal, to the best place in the house for entertaining by adding accent and ambient lighting. Using a number of different sources means you can create different atmospheres depending on the required use of the room at any time whether you are looking for bright daylight or the cosy atmosphere of a candle-lit dinner.

Cool EfficiencyTraditional lighting can be expensive to run and give off a lot of heat, which you need to consider if you are thinking of having multiple light sources in one room. The new LED lights were developed to provide a better balance between low power usage and bright lighting, maximising energy efficiency. While LED lights are small, they can be arranged together to form strip lights which are very bright. They are designed to last for thousands of hours which makes them economical as well as energy efficient.

Lighting for Every Occasion
Kitchens need to be well lit for the safe and hygienic preparation of food, so LED strip lights are ideal for use above work tops or underneath kitchen units for effective lighting on your work areas. LED products have less heat output, which also adds to their suitability for under cupboard lighting as the cupboards and food will not get too warm. If you are going to invest in multiple light sources for your kitchen you will want them to be adjustable to enable you to set the right mood in your kitchen for its different uses. LED lights can come with dimmer controls and are also available in different colours so can be used decoratively as well.

If you want more information on the available LED lighting products and whether they are suitable for your needs, there are some suppliers who specialise in this area such as www.ledstriplightsco.co.uk They also give technical information about colour mixing and light control.

Try Before You Wire
If you are adding in new lighting sources (as opposed to replacing existing fittings), you might want to try battery powered LED strip lights. These could be easily fitted into areas with no existing link to the mains electricity and as they require less power but still yield a bright light, they can be a quick and easy solution to lighting dark spots in difficult-to-access places. This will maximise the use of all areas of your room. You might be undecided where it will be best to place your LED strip lights and so with the battery-powered option you can test them out for a while in different places before deciding whether you want to have them connected to the electricity supply.